The FDA and CDC have approved the use of a bivalent vaccine in the 6 month through 4 year population. There are different recommendations as to who is eligible depending on whether your child received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for the initial series.

Pfizer:

If your child has COMPLETED the three-dose series with the Pfizer vaccine, they are NOT currently eligible for a bivalent booster dose. There is research that will be available in January 2023 that will be used to guide if and when a booster with the bivalent vaccine would be recommended.

If your child has received DOSE 1 OR DOSE 2 of the three-dose series, it is recommended that the new, bivalent vaccine is used for DOSE 3 which would be given in accordance to the previously established time-line, 8 weeks after dose 2.

To clarify, the Pfizer bivalent vaccine for ages 6 months through 4 years is currently only being used for DOSE 3 of the three-dose series.

Moderna:

If your child has COMPLETED the two-dose series with the Moderna vaccine, they are eligible for a Moderna bivalent vaccine 2 MONTHS after completing DOSE 2 of the primary series.

These boosters are not interchangeable, so if your child received 2 doses of Moderna they can only receive the Moderna bivalent booster, and if they have had 2 doses of Pfizer, they can only receive the Pfizer bivalent 3rd dose.

We will continue to offer Pfizer vaccines at Roslindale Pediatrics. We have ordered the Pfizer bivalent vaccine for ages 6 months through 4 years and will notify you when the vaccine has arrived in the clinic.

As a reminder, you can search vaxfinder.mass.gov to find an available vaccine appointment for your child.